// MCP TOKEN COST

The Preflight Ios MCP server costs 10,304 tokens before the first call.

Connect Preflight Ios and its 82 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 5.2% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The Preflight Ios MCP server's tool definitions consume 10,304 tokens — 5.4× the median MCP server (1,905 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS 82 tools · 10,304 tokens · 5.2% of 200k · 1.0% of 1M Method →

// CONTEXT WINDOW SHARE

What that buys before your agent starts working.

Tool definitions are overhead: they occupy context on every request and compete with your code, documents and conversation history for the same window.

200K WINDOW 5.2%

1M WINDOW 1.0%

Corpus context: Preflight Ios ranks #167 of 3,213 measured MCP servers by definition cost. The median is 1,905 tokens, p90 is 7,952, and the heaviest (Fusionauth) is 183,337 — 92% of a 200k window on its own.

// PER-TOOL BREAKDOWN

Where the 10,304 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 126 tokens per tool.

Tool	Category	Tokens	% of server
simulator_network_condition	Write	306	3.0%
simulator_override_status_bar	Read	272	2.6%
simulator_swipe	Write	269	2.6%
simulator_get_logs	Read	256	2.5%
simulator_wait_for_element	Execute	220	2.1%
simulator_stream_logs	Execute	203	2.0%
simulator_screenshot	Read	192	1.9%
simulator_launch_app	Execute	183	1.8%
simulator_press_key	Write	176	1.7%
simulator_tap	Write	172	1.7%
simulator_grant_permission	Destructive	170	1.6%
simulator_location_route	Write	170	1.6%
simulator_biometric	Execute	167	1.6%
simulator_record_video	Execute	166	1.6%
simulator_create_device	Write	166	1.6%
simulator_location_scenario	Execute	159	1.5%
simulator_defaults_write	Write	157	1.5%
simulator_keychain	Destructive	155	1.5%
simulator_set_content_size	Write	154	1.5%
simulator_get_crash_logs	Read	152	1.5%
simulator_read_app_file	Read	152	1.5%
simulator_send_push	Write	152	1.5%
simulator_long_press	Write	150	1.5%
simulator_storekit_manage_transaction	Write	148	1.4%
simulator_set_locale	Write	145	1.4%
simulator_list_app_files	Read	138	1.3%
simulator_element_exists	Write	138	1.3%
simulator_get_app_container	Read	134	1.3%
simulator_open_url	Write	133	1.3%
simulator_set_location	Write	133	1.3%
simulator_describe_point	Read	132	1.3%
simulator_network_capture	Write	132	1.3%
simulator_sample_process	Write	132	1.3%
simulator_defaults_read	Read	130	1.3%
simulator_vmmap	Read	130	1.3%
simulator_storekit_manage_subscription	Write	128	1.2%
simulator_stop_recording	Execute	122	1.2%
simulator_app_info	Read	116	1.1%
simulator_thermal_state	Write	116	1.1%
simulator_type_text	Write	116	1.1%
simulator_get_env	Read	112	1.1%
simulator_boot	Write	112	1.1%
simulator_notify_post	Write	108	1.0%
simulator_leak_check	Read	107	1.0%
simulator_install_app	Write	107	1.0%
simulator_storekit_config	Write	107	1.0%
simulator_add_media	Write	106	1.0%
simulator_install_app_data	Write	104	1.0%
simulator_heap_info	Read	102	1.0%
simulator_uninstall_app	Destructive	101	1.0%
simulator_set_increase_contrast	Write	101	1.0%
simulator_verbose_logging	Write	101	1.0%
simulator_snapshot	Read	100	1.0%
simulator_terminate_app	Write	100	1.0%
simulator_set_smart_invert	Write	99	1.0%
simulator_list_apps	Read	98	1.0%
simulator_clone_device	Write	98	1.0%
simulator_rotate	Write	98	1.0%
simulator_set_reduce_motion	Write	97	0.9%
simulator_set_bold_text	Write	95	0.9%
simulator_set_reduce_transparency	Write	95	0.9%
simulator_set_clipboard	Write	94	0.9%
simulator_navigate_back	Execute	93	0.9%
simulator_set_appearance	Write	91	0.9%
simulator_rename_device	Write	86	0.8%
simulator_accessibility_audit	Read	83	0.8%
simulator_list_devices	Read	83	0.8%
simulator_erase	Destructive	80	0.8%
simulator_memory_warning	Execute	79	0.8%
simulator_trigger_siri	Execute	78	0.8%
simulator_get_screen_info	Read	78	0.8%
simulator_diagnose	Write	78	0.8%
simulator_delete_device	Destructive	77	0.7%
simulator_storekit_reset_eligibility	Destructive	77	0.7%
simulator_icloud_sync	Execute	77	0.7%
simulator_network_status	Read	74	0.7%
simulator_shutdown	Write	74	0.7%
simulator_storekit_delete_transactions	Destructive	73	0.7%
simulator_storekit_transactions	Read	73	0.7%
simulator_get_clipboard	Read	67	0.7%
simulator_get_booted_sim_id	Read	53	0.5%
simulator_open_simulator	Write	46	0.4%

// SCOPED GRANT

Most agents use a handful of these tools. They pay for all 82.

A PolicyLayer grant exposes only the tools you allow — ungranted definitions are filtered out of the tool list, so they never enter the context window. Estimates below assume typical-weight tools (126 tokens each).

Grant scope	Definition cost	Reduction
All 82 tools (no gateway)	10,304 tokens	—
3 granted tools	~377 tokens	−96%
5 granted tools	~628 tokens	−94%
10 granted tools	~1,257 tokens	−88%

Model your own stack in the token-cost calculator, or see the Preflight Ios policy for what a sensible grant looks like.

//FAQ

Preflight Ios token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Preflight Ios MCP server use?+

Its 82 tool definitions total 10,304 tokens — 5.2% of a 200k context window — measured with tiktoken o200k_base over the serialised tools/list payload. Exact counts vary slightly by client and model.

Why does Preflight Ios consume tokens before I send a message?+

MCP clients load every connected server's tool definitions — name, description, and input schema — into the model's context so it knows what it can call. That payload is charged against your context window on every request, whether or not a tool is used.

How do I reduce Preflight Ios's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Preflight Ios to only the tools you allow — ungranted definitions are filtered out of the tool list, so they never enter the context window. A grant of 3 typical tools costs roughly 377 tokens, a 96% reduction.

Does deferred tool loading fix this?+

Partially, in some clients. Claude Code defers MCP tool schemas behind a tool-search step by default, and VS Code has experimental grouping — but you still pay tokens per search and reload, and Cursor, Windsurf and Gemini CLI load definitions upfront. Reducing the exposed tool set cuts the cost in every client.

// METHOD & REVIEW

How these numbers were measured.

Serialisation

Each tool is serialised as a tools/list entry — name, description, input schema — from the schemas in the PolicyLayer scan database. Clients differ slightly in framing, so treat counts as close estimates.

Tokeniser

tiktoken o200k_base (GPT-4o/o-series). Anthropic's current tokeniser isn't published, so Claude's exact counts will differ; for English text and JSON schemas the totals are close enough to treat these as estimates.

Deferred loading

Some clients now defer schema loading (Claude Code's tool search; VS Code experimental grouping). You still pay per search and reload — and Cursor, Windsurf and Gemini CLI load everything upfront.

Computed 07-06-2026 from the PolicyLayer scan database over all 82 catalogued Preflight Ios tools. Counts refresh with every site build.

Expose only the tools you use — the rest never enter your context.

A PolicyLayer grant scopes Preflight Ios to the tools you actually allow. Ungranted definitions never load, and every call that does run is checked against policy first.

SCOPE YOUR GRANT →

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